Today, March 30th, is the anniversary of two ominous events that occurred on our land and to our people. The first anniversary happened 43 years ago to the day. That was when the Israeli army in 1976 usurped over 2000 hectares of land owned by Palestinian families in the Galilee area. All the government of Israel needed to do was to declare this land as a military security zone and the deed was done. That act of theft, 43 years ago, did not only cost us precious, privately owned land but also six more precious Palestinian lives and 100 wounded. That day was marked as Land Day in Palestine.

International law prohibits the acquisition of land by an act of war or conquest. Yet this is what Zionism and Israel have been all about from the word ‘go’. Steal the land, ethnically cleanse it, declare it necessary for security, establish facts on the ground then, moving your chosen population on this stolen land, call it your own. When your powerful benefactors, allies and enablers put their stamp of approval on your acquisition of this land by brute force then why bother with international law? It becomes a mere irritation – to be ignored.

The second anniversary also falls today. Exactly a year ago the besieged and incarcerated two million Palestinian inhabitants of Gaza decided to march towards the illegal Israeli fortified fence to demand their internationally recognised rights. It became known as the Great March of Return. The people of Gaza, men, women, children and the elderly marched peacefully armed only with their flags and their voices, chanting and demanding their right of return to their cities, towns and villages from where they were uprooted in 1948.

Their protest was met with the usual savagery by the Israeli Occupation Forces. The snipers who were positioned at the border fence used live ammunition to kill, maim and injure. No-one in the march was spared. Not even the children, the paramedics, or the journalists who were clearly wearing vests to identify themselves. According to the UN Human Rights statistics over 194 people, 41 of which were children, were killed and 29,000 were injured. Most of them with permanent disabilities because of the kind of weaponry used by the Israeli snipers and the kind of injuries that were caused.

The Charity,Medicines Sans Frontiere, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said, “These are not simple wounds that can be easily stitched up. Huge chunks of people’s legs have been blown out and their bones shattered.”

The Chair of the UN Human Rights Commission, Santiago Canton of Argentina stated, “The commission has reasonable grounds to believe that during the Great March of Return, Israeli soldiers committed violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Some of those violations may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity, and must be immediately investigated by Israel”.

Nothing of the sort of course. This is how Member of the Knesset, Avi Dichter described the Israeli assault.

“Israel has a bullet for every man, woman and child in Gaza. They can all be killed. No problem.”

Naturally, Israel has called the report biased and the chorus of the cheer leaders from Washington to Canberra have agreed and voted against it.

Later on this afternoon the organisers of The Great March Of Return has called on all the people of Gaza to close their businesses down to commemorate this dual anniversary, saying, “We call upon our people, especially young people, to take the utmost care and caution from the criminal enemy snipers.” We can only hope that the horrors and the crimes of the last year will not be repeated.

Despite all the pain and suffering that has been inflicted on us by the Zionists in Israel and everywhere globally there are some shoots of hope springing up around the world. Ordinary, decent citizens, especially in the United States of America, have started to realise that they have been sold myths and lies of great magnitude about Israel for many, many years and they are beginning to say, Jews and Gentiles alike, enough already. Not In My Name. Put an end to this injustice.

My friends and fellow humans, next time you go to the ballot box please make sure that you know what our chosen representative really stands for.

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims, but accomplices.” – George Orwell.

Jafar M Ramini is a Palestinian writer and political analyst, based in London, presently in Perth, Western Australia. He was born in Jenin in 1943 and was five years old when he and his family had to flee the terror of the Urgun and Stern gangs. Justice for the people of Palestine is a life-long commitment.

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